Roof Caulks...Leaky roof!

[Guest rangerboat]

Like  almost everyone, we've got a leak! Looking for the best caulk for this type of problem, I've tried to find ProFlex RV to no avail...not carried within 50 miles of here. There is a Lowes and they carry Lexel which is purported to be an almost equal. Anyone have any thoughts or comments? I'm using it around the clearance lights up front as I've found a couple of suspect areas. There is also one by the same manufacturer (Sashco) called Big Stretch. Lexel cannot be used on anything rubber as it contains solvents.

[bret trickett]

I used silicone as a stop gap till proflex came in via amazon.

It is not good use silicone but it peeled up some what easy so I could redo with proflex correctly.

[JDCrow]

Amazon for proflex. I got all Of mine for my roof from Amazon

I’ve had zero luck with lexal on any project I’ve tried it on. 

We used to use big stretch on hardie siding, didn’t care for it but it was years ago. I like PL products. 

[Wrayj1]

I, just as JD appears to have done, have used 4"and 6" eternabond tape on every joint where it is practical, highly recommend it.

[JDCrow]

11 minutes ago, Wrayj1 said:

I, just as JD appears to have done, have used 4"and 6" eternabond tape on every joint where it is practical, highly recommend it.

LOL it’s not eterna bond. I masked off areas and used proflex 

[Wrayj1]

I guess it's time to turn in my keys, too blind to see let alone drive it. Lol!

[JDCrow]

1 hour ago, Wrayj1 said:

I guess it's time to turn in my keys, too blind to see let alone drive it. Lol!

Nah I just do things wonky 

[Rikadoo]

I will spare everyone the cleaning procedure, we have all been there. However my prep was once cleaned of all the old caulking i put down 4” Eternabond tape, then coated the entire roof with a material called Tropicool, made by henrys, sold at home depot. I painted the entire roof with it, also because the ac covers were in such bad shape i used eternibond tape on the stress cracks on the inside of the cover, then painted them with the same roof paint. It really does a great job filling in any voids… K, so you know, i discovered a error in my plan! The roofing compound is great, UNTILL next year you shimmy your self up there to clean it. I took a bucket with soft brush a soap an water… DID I MENTION THE ROOFING PAINT IS SILICON BASED!!! Soon as i put the soap an water on it the roof became slippery like it was covered in snot😳🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️
So now i stand on a ladder an use my little 1800 psi pressure washer… All in all if i had it to do over again i would still use the same paint, cause there are soo many advantages to it, i just wont use soap an water any more unless im tied up to a sky hook first.

[Guest Ray Davis]

$459.99, yikes was that a 55 gal drum?    100% silicone, that's a lot.   I must say it looks great.  How did you apply it?

[Guest rangerboat]

Thanks for all the feedback. Guess I’ll resort to Amazon for the Proflex. You guys with your roofs….Wow! Well done. I’ll have to hire someone for that. 

[Rikadoo]

I first used a brush to cut in two cuts around everything, then i used a heavy nap rollor, 1st coat went one direction, second coat went the other. Before applying i used clean rags with general purpose adhesive cleaner made by 3M, (note:use gloves an pace yourself, that stuff is potent 🤪) If i had it to do over i would used Denatured alcohol😎

[tomevansfl]

I have always heard to use Dicor.  I have two tubes arriving on Monday from Amazon. 
 

Should I return it and get Proflex?

[Tom Cherry]

3 hours ago, tomevansfl said:

I have always heard to use Dicor.  I have two tubes arriving on Monday from Amazon. 
 

Should I return it and get Proflex?

Sort of like Ford vs Chevy or Coke vs Pepsi. The Prolex is a Geocel product.  Monaco used the solvent based caulk on mine.  Then, folks got picky about air and safety emissions... Geocel came out with the water or non VOC Proflex. I actually talked to Geocel and the factory (Navistar) was still using the VOC material.

The Proflex will probably be a bit "runnier"....IIRC.  The Dicor is a bit more runny that some of the other sealants I have used....such as the BASF (old Sonoborne) NP-1.  The caveat would be WHERE are you using it and how much do you want it to run. For example, I replaced my clearance lights and used the Sonoborne....it was NOT recommended as the Geocel had a solvent which crosslinked to the paint.  BUT, when they reformulated and made it a low VOC, does it still crosslink?  Rhetorical....of course. BUT, I would use RTV Windshield sealer (3M) if I were going to seal in clearance lights.  Mine were the BUGGER to get our and such....lots of prep time. The RTV would have been more of a "caulking tube" consistenancy and stayed in a bead more....where the Proflex would probably run and be harder to control and stay on a curved surface. The Dicor will settle and level, but still retains some bead like shape.

Also depends on where and the color.  I fix roof leaks and touch up the OEM Monaco sealer about every 3 years or so. I clean with the Bleech White tire cleaner.  That is a high Sodium Hydroxide (use in well ventilated area) cleaner...but it DOES remove just about everything.  I sometimes, very carefully, use acetone....to dry it.  That also activates the old caulk. The old Geocel caulk will eventually have some voids from entrained air bubbles or little cracks. When it is wet or has soap, you can press on it, if it is thick enough, and see it expel air or blow a bubble.  It if is blowing bubbles....it has voids.

CLEAN, CLEAN and if you are doing something like a fan cover or a shower or whatever.....mask it off. I free hand fasteners for things like a solar roof mount.

I can tell you that Dicor sticks or bonds well (Crosslinks) with the Geocel VOC that Monaco used in the 2000's of so....on that you can depend....

[JDCrow]

48 minutes ago, Tom Cherry said:

Sort of like Ford vs Chevy or Coke vs Pepsi. The Prolex is a Geocel product.  Monaco used the solvent based caulk on mine.  Then, folks got picky about air and safety emissions... Geocel came out with the water or non VOC Proflex. I actually talked to Geocel and the factory (Navistar) was still using the VOC material.

The Proflex will probably be a bit "runnier"....IIRC.  The Dicor is a bit more runny that some of the other sealants I have used....such as the BASF (old Sonoborne) NP-1.  The caveat would be WHERE are you using it and how much do you want it to run. For example, I replaced my clearance lights and used the Sonoborne....it was NOT recommended as the Geocel had a solvent which crosslinked to the paint.  BUT, when they reformulated and made it a low VOC, does it still crosslink?  Rhetorical....of course. BUT, I would use RTV Windshield sealer (3M) if I were going to seal in clearance lights.  Mine were the BUGGER to get our and such....lots of prep time. The RTV would have been more of a "caulking tube" consistenancy and stayed in a bead more....where the Proflex would probably run and be harder to control and stay on a curved surface. The Dicor will settle and level, but still retains some bead like shape.

Also depends on where and the color.  I fix roof leaks and touch up the OEM Monaco sealer about every 3 years or so. I clean with the Bleech White tire cleaner.  That is a high Sodium Hydroxide (use in well ventilated area) cleaner...but it DOES remove just about everything.  I sometimes, very carefully, use acetone....to dry it.  That also activates the old caulk. The old Geocel caulk will eventually have some voids from entrained air bubbles or little cracks. When it is wet or has soap, you can press on it, if it is thick enough, and see it expel air or blow a bubble.  It if is blowing bubbles....it has voids.

CLEAN, CLEAN and if you are doing something like a fan cover or a shower or whatever.....mask it off. I free hand fasteners for things like a solar roof mount.

I can tell you that Dicor sticks or bonds well (Crosslinks) with the Geocel VOC that Monaco used in the 2000's of so....on that you can depend....

Great info! Really I need to read up on Sika products. I use some at work and they are awesome. I just didn’t have the time to research them when I bought my Dip and ran with proflex.